My Fun Classes, My Fun Time

I first started giving her fun classes in July 2011, when she was around 2 years 4 months old; and we had completed the whole lots of 26 letters, 52 lessons last week, for which she has turned 3 years 9 months old. It took me around one and a half year to complete these classes, for which it was never planned to be finished in a short period.

Although she already knew letter A to Z before I introduced the fun classes to her, she was not cooperative and did not follow my instruction on the first lesson. I was wondering whether she could pick up the spelling through my prompting skill, but she soon picked it up in lesson L.

I became lazy to continue with the lesson after some time, it was not easy as I was busy with my work, each day after work, I left only a few hours of time in the night before she turned in for her sleep. Chloe was the one that kept reminding me to have the fun classes, she would bug me, nag me, and remind me day after day. I guess, the lessons were really fun to her, anyway, she's the strength for me to persist on the lessons.

I have done up a collage on her from lesson A to Z, when it was done, I was really amazed on her progress, my little princess has not only progress well in her literacy but also physically, she has grown from a toddler to a little young lady!

Look at the following enlarged pictures, she's no longer a small baby!

Chloe asked me: "mummy, what are you going to teach me after fun class?"
I do not have a specific plan for her, probably abacus, mathematics, Chinese, or piano....... We are learning everyday, every hour, every minute, not necessary a structured lesson, but it will definitely a fun one.

I picked up phonics together with her, and I'm still continuously learning phonics and pronunciation. I enjoy learning with my kids, I believe they enjoy learning with me too. Moving forward, I hope we could pick up more kills and knowledge through a fun way of learning. I'm sure there would be more challenges ahead of her, but should there be any stress on her study, it would never be coming from the mummy.

A little message to my angel,

Mummy is very happy with your progress, you always do me proud.

Your smile has always make my day, and your sorrow has always make me down too.

I'm happy whenever you are happy, so put on your smile and let's give each other strength to move against whatever obstacles ahead of us.

I love you...always.

With love,

Mummy

List of my fun classes:
1) A for Ant
2) A for Apple
3) B for Bubbles and Bear
4) C for Crocodile
5) C for Cake
6) D for Duck and Dog
7) E for Egg and Elephant
8) F for Frog
9) F for Fish
10) G for Goat
11) H for Horse
12) H for House
13) I for Insect
14) I for Indian
15) J for Jelly
16) J for Jack-in-the-box
17) K for Kettle
18) K for Kangaroo
19) L for lollipop
20) L for Leaf
21) M for Monkey
22) M for Mummy
23) N for Necklace
24) N for Net
25) O for Octopus
26) O for Orange
27) P for Potato
28) P for Pig
29) Q for Queen
30) Q for Quilt
31) R for Rabbit
32) R for Rainbow
33) S for Snake
34) S for Star
35) T for Tiger
36) T for Tortoise
37) U for Up and Under
38) U for Umbrella
39) V for Vegetable
40) V for Vase

41) W for Worm

42) W for Whale

43) X is a Cross

44) X for X-ray

45) Y for Yolk

46) Y for Yacht

47) Z for Zebra

48) Z for Zoo

Chloe's N1 Year End Report

I have posted on her first half year report here.

I also mentioned a few times how I like the two-way communication provided by the school.

Early this month, we attended the parents-teacher conference where the teachers updated us on her progress. Here are the reports presented by the teachers to us:

English

Chinese

Chloe received pretty good comments from the teachers, I hope she keeps this up and continue to progress in the coming years, I also hope that she enjoys her pre-school as much as she can.

My son will be joining the school next month, I hope he does enjoy the school too :)

Chloe's Reading Progress at 3 years 9 months

I've previously posted on "How to encourage reading in young toddlers", for which I posted a video of her reading story book at the age of 35 months, one month before she turned into 3 years old.

If you're interested to find out how to cultivate the interest of reading in your children, do visit the post, for which I talked about the problems Chloe was facing and my methods helping her to befriend the books.

For this post, I would like to update on her reading progress. I'm surprised to see her reading this kind of books with small wordings:



She made a few mistakes in the reading, but I'm not too worry about it, my emphasis is still her interest in reading.

She will now dig the story books from the pile of books I prepared for her in our study room, and read them by herself. She will ask me if she faces any new words, for which I will read to her and explain if necessary. Sometimes, she will ask me about the story, like what happen to the "Gingerbreadman", why the fox is hiding behind the wall and etc. I will tell her to continue reading to find out the story herself.

I also see her doing role playing with her younger brother, example she would act as the "big bad wolf" and trying to catch her brother assuming the brother is the "little piggy". The story line will follow the story of "Three little pigs" but adapted a little bit by her.

Some points I would like to highlight here:
1) All kids like to read.
If you think your kid has no interest in reading, you're probably using the wrong way.

2) Do not force your kid to read.
Emphasis on getting their interest in reading especially in the early years.

3) Always make books available.
I have books not only at my home, but also in my car. My kids can read anytime anywhere as long as it does not affect their eyesight.


4) Let the kids choose their favourite books to read.
Every kid has different interest, example my 2 years old boy only read books with animals, others will not get his interest.

5) Do not explain every single word in the story.
Some parents like to explain the words, but this is very disturbing and will actually discourage the kids from reading.
Imagine if you are reading a newspaper, do you know all the words written on an article? I'm sure there will be some words which are not in your vocab but still you are able to understand the article. If someone were to explain all the words that he or she thinks you do not understand, do you still want to read the newspaper?

6) Do not 'read' the story to your kid in 'your own language'.
When you read to your kid, read the words in the book accordingly, some parents think that the kids might not be able to understand the sentences written on the book, and they changed the sentences to the ones that they think are easier to understand.
Example, instead of "the little piglet is so excited to see a table full of food", it is changed to "the little piglet is very happy when he see so many 'mum mum' on the table" (note: 'mum mum' is the baby language for food). 
What is wrong here? The parent has eliminated "excited" from the kid's words bank, and the baby language of 'mum mum' is something I really against of.

7) Have enough books collection at home
Books can be expensive if you were to buy all brand new from store. I collect all the used books from friends and relative, so that I have enough collection to arouse my kids' interest.
My books are normally scatter around the house after their reading (and playing), but I believe the situation will be improved from time to time.

I think Chloe should have no problem in reading English books independently. My next focus will be improving her Chinese reading. Let's hope it'll be as smooth as getting her to read English :)

If you like my fun classes, please like the Facebook page "Learn The Fun Way" for more updates

Chloe's N1 Activities Booklets

Chloe brought 7 booklets back home from the school last week. The booklets are the activities worksheets Chloe had done in the school. The booklets show that the school has different theme for each month, the kids are learning new words and doing craft according to the theme.

I appreciate the efforts put in by the teachers in binding the worksheets for the kids to bring home. From there, I can understand better what my kid is doing and learning in the school.

Some pages of the English worksheets:

The different themes for each month for Chinese:

Some pages from the Chinese worksheets:

Chloe is currently studying at Carpe Diem, N1.

If you're interested to find out more on the school, you may refer here:
1) Chloe's N1 First Half Year Report
2) My review on Carpe Diem

Chloe's N1 First Half Year Report

Chloe started her nursery at Carpe Diem since February this year. She received her first half year report on 30 June last Saturday. Her teachers presented her progress on Powerpoint and Word.

These are the slides presented by her English teacher Miss Mylene:

These are the slides presented by her Chinese teacher Miss Liao:

These are some pages from the progress report:

  

 

 

In summary, she received very good comments from both the teachers. The teachers commented she behaves herself in the class, never fight with her classmates over toys, can concentrate well during the lesson. She is advance in learning comparing to her classmates, she knows the alphabets and numbers very well and could even solve those puzzles and count and match games for K1 students. The teachers also mentioned that she shows interest in music and action songs, she can pick up the songs  her teacher taught her very fast. 

I'm happy that she is doing well in the school, and better than what we have expected from her. I shall monitor her progress and groom her according to her interest, currently she is learning Hip Hop dance in Taneo Dance Studio.

How to encourage reading in young toddlers

Chloe is currently 35 months old, she'll be 3 next month. She is able to read the book titled "The Ants Are in A Hurry" by herself now(although she bit the book at the end of the video, haha!).

If you're thinking that she is an obedient child, or she picked up the book with interest in reading, no she is not (having said that, I did not force her to read, haha!).

If your child or children have the following problems, don't worry, Chloe had them too!
1) Show no interest in reading
2) Would run away when you try to read to him or her
3) Play the books like playing blocks, example, pile them up like a book tower.
4) Tear the books
5) Bite the books
6) Throw or scatter the books around
7) Does not allow you to read the book
8) Only look at pictures when you read to her and even when you point the words to her
9) Keep asking questions relating to the pictures instead of reading the words.

Chloe does not like to read prior to 35 months old, why do I say that? Because she has all the behaviours listed above previously. But now, she likes to read. She will bring her favourite books to bed and we will read together every night before sleeping. Here, I would like to share with you how do I cultivate the interest of reading in her.

1) A small library or books collection at home
Thanks to my sister in law, I have many books passed down from my niece to my children at home. These books were of very good conditions when given to me, but they are mostly torn or show signs of wear and tear now, as my girl like to 'play' them and does not take good care of the books.
Although my girl does not show interest in reading before 35 months old, I would still try to introduce all kinds of books to her, and the books are arranged in a small bookshelf beside her toy box, so that she get to see the books all the time.
A small library at home is important, as young toddlers like to read the same books over and over, they like to do things repetitively, and they gain confidence by doing something they already knew. It is true that you can borrow books from library nowadays, but you can't borrow the same books for your kids all the time.

2) Bring them to National Library
In Singapore, we have very good public library facilities which are so conveniently located at many of the shopping malls. I would think everyone should fully utilise this free service provided by the government, and I can't believe that there are parents who are not aware, or have not bring their children to library.
Our National Libraries have very good books to the children, from touch books, flap books for babies to story, and reference books for primary kids. Each individual can borrow 6 books (12 books during promotion) each time for a period of 3 weeks. You can return the books at any of the library, not necessary the one that you borrowed the books.
I bring my girl to library almost once a week since she was 20 months old. Although she did not like reading, she like going to library, and mess up the books there. Most of the time, she was just walking around, taking the books, scattering the books or see others reading the books (of course, I got to tidy up for her).
The objective of me bringing her to library, is to let her have a feel of what books are, I want her to think that reading is fun, and many children go to library to read books. This work for her, she would request to visit the library every time we passed by one. Most of the time, we borrow story books home and I let her put the books at the borrowing kiosk which she finds it interesting.

3) Show them good example
I do not like to watch TV drama at home. When my husband is not around, the TV in my living room is off most of the time. I like spending my time with my kids by playing with them, or read to them. Previously, my girl does not like reading, so I read my own magazine, or newspaper when I have time. My girl would imitate me, by holding a book, and "read" or rather talk in her own language. I believe, by reading in front of her, I'm showing her that books are for reading, and not for playing.
If you would like your children to start reading at young age, you should show them a good example. Many times, I see children who do not like to read, grown up in a non-reading family, i.e. the parents themselves also do not like to read.
Having said this, I do watch my favourite drama occasionally. Especially now my girl can read by herself, I would watch the drama by using Iphone, while she read the books sitting beside me. When she can't read the words, or if she get distracted by my Iphone, I would stop watching drama and guide her. What I'm trying to emphasize is that, you need not sacrifice your hobby, and this is why I emphasize in young learning, as I would have more and more free time for myself when my kids can self-learning after having strong base.

4) Build up the interest, get the concept right
I prefer to cultivate interest in my kids rather than force them doing something they do not like. Although my girl does not like reading, I bring her to library, buy books with her favourite characters for her. I show her that books are interesting, it have many nicely drawn graphics, and if you read them, they'll tell you a great story.
When she played the books and pile them up, I did not stop her, instead, I let her play and explore the books by herself.
Some parents like to scare the children by saying "the books are very difficult nowadays, if you don't learn now you'll not be able to read.... etc". If you make a child think that books are hard to read, they'll not even want to touch the books. Remember, children like to do things they already knew, that is why we must let them 'befriend' the books, let them familiar with the books, once they are able to read a few sentence, they'll like reading!

5) Cater to the individual's interest and strength.
My girl likes to play game, so I played a game with her.
I told her, "when mummy points, you will read; when you point, mummy will read". We played this a few times, and she was finally looking at the words when i read, and read the words after me.
I then played another game with her, I would say a word and she got to find where is the word; after playing a few times, she requested to say the words and let me find where were the words. By doing this, I am assured that she really recognises the words.

6) Start with simple.
Some parents can be very ambitious, and give a very wordy book to their children. However, by doing this, they might be killing the interest off from the children, as none of the children would like the feeling of "been defeated", i.e. they can't read. Don't forget, the children like to do something that they are familiar with, and be praised of. A step by step approach is thus more encouraged.
You may refer to the ladybird's series of Peter and Jane, where the books are categorised by level, start with Level 1 and progress smoothly to next level. It contains many repetitive words, which could be boring to the parents, but these are the keywords that build up vocabulary in young children, and believe me, most children like to read repetitively.

7) Does phonics help?
Experts believe that young children below 5 years old could not associate phonics in words. They believe young children read by recognising the word, instead of by the phonetic method. This could be the fact, but there could be exceptional case as well.
For my girl, she could get the first letter right after hearing a word, but she could not spell the word unless i slow down and sound the letters one by one. I believe she still read by memory, but I'm sure phonics will help her in her reading once she got the concept, thus I still teach her phonics concurrently hoping that she would pick it up soon.

Lastly, I am not a very hardworking mother. Or some might be thinking I'm a full time housewife, no, I'm not. I'm a working mother of two, I reach home around 7pm during weekdays, I have around 1 hour with my kids after my dinner and shower. I try to utilise this one hour to the fullest, but I do have time when I feel lazy or just want to rest or do my face mask, so, I'm not different from many women out there! Never think that you're too busy, no time or not good enough in guiding your children, you can definitely do it if you want to :)

Her second book just a week after she starts reading:

Reading can be very addictive to young children :)

Language Assessment at Infant Language Centre of NUS

I saw the request for toddlers to participate in a research on infant language development on Motherhood Forum and I signed Chloe up for that. The purpose of the research is to understand how babies learn their first words. In particular, this study is on bilingualism in children.
As transportation is fully covered (if you drive, they pay for your parking at NUS; if you take a cab, they pay for your cab fare by using your cab receipt on arrival x2), I do not mind bringing Chloe there for some fun.
When we were there, Chloe was asked to sit on my lap and listen to a set of words accompanied by pictures. We were video recorded and Chloe was monitored on her eyes movement as in the pictures that she looked at in response to the words. After watching the set of words and pictures in English and Chinese, I was asked to fill out a questionnaire on Chloe's language history which took me about 10 to 15 minutes.

At the end of the session, Chloe was given an assessment of her vocabulary development using standardized assessment instrument, she was asked to point to the picture after hearing the words in English and Chinese. The results was emailed to me after 2 weeks. Part of the analysis says this:


I was not surprised by the results, and it was never my intention to assess whether she's better in English or Chinese. However, this assessment has highlighted a few problems to me. No doubt she had demonstrated that she knows quite many English words, but her vocabulary is not strong. I think this problem lies on us, as we seldom read or show pictorial dictionary to her, and the worst is, when we speaks to her, we tend to say "this and that" instead of name the object. Besides, I presume she's speaking Chinese with babysitter but I overlook that in Singapore we speak Chinese by mixing English in between especially when we say the common names. E.g., when the researcher asked her about 巴士 (Ba1 Shi4 i.e. bas), she was unable to answer this question and I'd never thought that she does not know this simple word since I have been pointing her to the buses whenever we see one. This has triggered me to ensure that we speak better language to her and speak pure English or Chinese (this will be quite hard, imagine you got to say one sentence fully in Chinese without English term) to her. Our initial arrangement for her is that, I'll speak English to her while my husband will speak Chinese to her, but recently she had been speaking English to us more often and she starts to express her thoughts in English sentences, I guess my husband is not doing a good job and need to put in more efforts then, haha!
If your toddler is around 31 months old and you're interested to volunteer for the research, you may refer to the following for more details:
You may contact Ms. Calista Chan by email (psycjc@nus.edu.sg) or by phone at 6601 1718. Visit them at http://blog.nus.edu.sg/babytalk.
You'll be paid $20 for your contribution.

How did my girl learn to associate things with A - Z

She learned this from various sources, without my supervision. I was surprised when she told me, as I didn't teach her this. She likes the song of ABC, so she'll request me to search for this song from youtube for her, and I'll normally searched songs with title "ABC" and pass her the Iphone to let her choose the song she wants. From the list she found other ABC related songs and clips, one of the good ones are this which teaches A-Z phonics and things associated with it:
Youtube Phonics Song
So she learned this A is for "Apple, A, A, Apple...." and etc. She also learned from those block books and picture books given by my sister in law. So do not under estimate the ability of the children, they can self-learn pretty fast.
In the clips above, she didn't say out the full list of A - Z, and she started to talk nonsense when comes to H, is very difficult to video tape her as she doesn't have the patient. But I managed to record it as a voice clip when she was about to sleep one of the nights:
Click Here to hear the voice clip :)

Chloe's Version of ABC!

This video was taken by my babysitter's daugther in June. Chloe can sing the song very good now but I still prefer to look at this video, the reason is simply because it is too funny! Ha, I'm sure you'll have a good laugh when u watch it :)

From baby to toddler

I saw this video on my husband youtube account, I can't believe Chloe has changed so much in such a short time. She was still baby-talking early this year and don't even know a single alphabet, but just 4 months later she can recognise A-Z and many simple words. I must say she's growing up very fast, not only physically but also mentally, no wonder everyone saying that 2 year + is a good age to start learning :)

Update on Chloe

Chloe tried Childcare when she was 18 months, but it was a failure.
After her 2nd year birthday, I decided to enroll her in those one hour weekend enrichment class, and after some research she was enrolled with Zoophonics at Serangoon Centre. It is about 4 months since she's attending the one hour class every saturday, she is progressing well ever since she started the class. I've blogged about it in my blog before:
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/winnyyap/13546779
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/winnyyap/13550031

And also my verdict on Zoophonics:
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/winnyyap/13571253

Chloe now knows the phonics sound of A - Z, she also knows the "A for Apple..." till letter Z, I'm not in a rush to send her to nursery school, my planning is next year January.

Meanwhile, I've started home teaching on her about once a week. The contents and materials of my teaching are from a phonics lesson taught by an ex-preschool teacher. I call it "Fun Class". I've taught Chloe letter A, B and E so far, and she likes the lesson. I've blogged about it in my own blog, I shall move those posts to here, and there'll be more update on my home teaching in future :)